Some secrets
by JS16
Summary: Set during 4x01. What if another character was hiding in the food court while the shooting took place? Can he help clear up exactly what happened that day? Rated T for language and violence
1. Just run

Kyle Phillips was a loner, he spent alot of time by himself. He didn't hang out at the local mall very much either, but today was one of the few days he did.

And now he regrets it.

He was seventeen and turning eighteen in two months. Kyle was a tall, average built boy with dark brown hair that he wore short. Most of the time he was at home on the internet or outside skateboarding. But no matter wat it was Kyle was almost always alone.

Most other kids pretended that he didn't exist. That was fine with Kyle, he honestly didn't mind being left out. As long as everyone left him alone, he'd leave them alone.

The reason Kyle was at the mall on this afternoon is because he's meeting a couple of his friends, Travis and Alex. They're his only true friends and the three of them were going shopping for a new video camera. They enjoyed making short films.

Kyle walked into the crowded mall, it looked like any old Saturday afternoon. People were walking back and forth with bags. Some of them had friends and others were alone. He reconzied a few kids from his school.

Chelsea Davis, a sophmore at Kyle's school was walking towards the food court with a few of her girl friends. They were laughing about somthing. Kyle had a crush on her, he had one since the fifth grade. But Chelsea looked at Kyle like most kids would look at a piece of gum stuck on the bottom of their shoe.

But he didn't care, he never cared. Jamming his hands into his dark blue jeans pockets, Kyle slung his grey bookbag oer his shoulder and began walking though the mall, he was supposed to wait at the food court.

Once he got there, Kyle could smell a mixture of pizza, french fries, and grease. That's how the food curt always seemed to smell. He found a table where nobody was sitting and walked to it, pulling out one of the flimsy white chairs and taking a seat. He sat his bookbag next to his feet and checked his watch.

It was 2:29, Alex and Travis were to meet him here at 2:45. Kyle ran a hand through his short hair and pulled out his wallet. He bought a coke and sat back down at the same table, taking a drink and glancing back down at his watch. 2:36

A few minutes later, two guys who worked in the food court sometimes, Cameron and Neil, walked into the crowded area and looked around. Kyle paid little attention and stared into his coke. He glanced across the room at Chelsea and her friends, as always they were just talking.

Sighing, he looked away. Not many girls ever seemed to notice him. Kyle always wished things were different when it came to relationships. He just shook his head. What happened next was so unexpected.

There was a boy, a jock on the schools football team, sitting across the cafeteria talking. Kyle didn't really notice him as much as Cameron and Neil. Cameron had a black shotgun out. Kyles stomach knotted up. He thought it was all in his head until he heard the gun blast.

It sounded nothing like how they did in the movies. This sounded like a bomb going off. Neil, who was filmig when Kyle shoot the jock, handed the camera to a girl in a dark pink shirt and pulled out a black ooze.

Suddenly the room errupted with screams and gunfire. And laughter. The two boys were laughing as if it were some kind of game. They fired randomly at anybody moving. Kyle grabbed his bag and took off across the room, ducking behind a large booth on the far side of the room. he could still hear all sorts of sounds and looked around the corner.

His heart was racing. Cameron and Neil were shooting while the girl filmed, she looked afraid. She also looked familiar and Kyle was sure she went to his school. A guy who was running was shot in the back several times. Kyle jerked his head away, closing his eyes and trying not to vomit.

The sounds of people screaming were like what you would hear in a scary movie. The scteaming only made everything seem scarier, if that was even possible.

They were still laughing as if what they did was funny and he glanced back to see the girl who was filming running for cover. She must he horrified, he thought. But then again, she was filming just a second ago. Their laughter continued.

It's the one thing that still haunted Kyle every day since the massacre. People around them were dying and bleeding and they laughed. How? How could they do that? The noise died down and he listened. some people where crying out for help, other than that the room stayed pretty quiet. There's small kids in here, he thought, feeling sick all over again.

What had just happened? In a matter of seconds the whole mall became a danger zone. Kyle heard the two boys talking but tried to drown it out. He closed his eyes and pressed all the way back against the wall, hoping to not be seen, and started praying.

Not just for himself but for all the other victims, for everyone who was afraid. Never in his life had Kyle been so terrified. He waited for what seemed like an eternity. There were a few gunshots ever once and a while but other than that everything was quiet, except for muffled cries from other victims, and the girl across the room.

The sudden silence only intensified the situation. Then he heard their voices again.

Cameron: This is it bro!

Neil: Then the credits roll dawg...

Cameron: The end.

Silence. But Kyle already knew what was coming. He wanted to cover his ears but instead waited. Two gunshots rang out at almost the same exact time. Kyle jumped at the sound, though it hardly surprised him.

There was more silence and finally he gathered enough courage to stand up. his whole body was trembling and for a second Kyle expected to see them waiting to kill him. He was wrong.

There were people everywhere, some dead and some alive. Blood and food from where people had panicked and dropped it was splattered all across the floor and walls. There was so much blood that it made Kyle sick. He stopped himself from getting puking and looked across the room, expecting to see exactly what he saw.

Cameron and Neil were laying almost side by side, weapons still in their hands. Blood was seeping from their heads almost like water from a hose. They were certaintly dead. Blood soaked their clothes.

It was like a horror movie, only much worse. Their heads weren't even fully intact with their bodies anymore. That's when he lost it. Kyle turned around and vomitted. How could this ever happen here? This was a safe place. This whole town, well it was a safe place...at some point.

People spend their entire weekends hanging out here, that's how boring the town was. Outside Kyle could hear police sirens and ambulances, and voices. All these people...

Kyle: Oh shit...

Never, not even in the worst horror film had he seen so much blood in one place. It was like somebody took red paint and splattered it all over. He could even see a security guard dressed in a white long sleeved shirt and black jeans laying on the floor, across the room. A trail of blood behind him.

He was so caught up in hundreds of thoughts that the last thing Kyle expected was to feel a hand on his shoulder. So when he did feel one, it made him flinch. He turned around, afraid it may have been a third shooter, but it wasn't.

It was the girl who had filmed Cameron and Neil before. Her eyes were red from crying and she looked so pale it frightened him. There was sort of a huanted look in her eyes and she was no longer holding the video camera.

Tina: They're all dead..

Her voice was so low that Kyle had to strain just to hear it. He only nodded at what she said and looked around, wishing some officers would come in already. The scene was so horrifying

Kyle: What's your name?

Tina:..My...

Kyle: Your name?

He tried to speak as kindly as he could, but he was still in total shock. Speaking english was suddenly like trying to speak a foreign language.

Tina: I'm..i'm Tina and you're Kyle, right?

Kyle looked at her with amazment, despite the siuation.

Kyle: Yeah..how'd you...

Tina: I was in your math class last year.

That's where he had seen her. How could he have forgotten about sombody that he had been in a room with for fourty five minutes every day for a whole school year so easily?

Kyle: Hey Tina, we should hurry up and get the hell out of here-at least this area.

Tina agreed and the two of them left.

Finally, later in the evening, it was secure to leave the building. Kyle had no idea where Tina wondered off to and he really wanted to say goodbye, but had no idea where to look.

He just hoped she'd be fine, now that it was all over. Even though it was apparent that she played some role in the shooting, he decided against telling anyone. The moment Kyle stepped outside into the darkness that was broken by police and ambulance light, he heard his name being called.

Mrs Phillips: Kyle!

He turned around and ran across the lot to his parents, who were stading by their black chevy. he threw his arms around them both, almost to the point of tears.

That was weird, not since the sixth grade had Kyle cried. Not when he broke his arm skateboarding or even when his dog died. He just never cried anymore.

But now here he was, about to cry.

Other survivors, some so badly injured they needed assistance just to walk, were exiting the building. Some of them had blood on them while others were perfectly unharmed.

Kyle let go of his parents after a long time. He was so happy to see them, to see their faces. For a while he thought that he'd never get the chance to see them again. Kyle looked up at Cameran's parents with sudden pity and saddness.

He felt horrible because they still believed their son was going to come out just fine. But he knew better than to tell them the truth. He didn't even tell his own parents.

Kyle went home that night with his life. He hardly slept for maybe the next moth, maybe even two. Everytime Kyle would drift off his dreams would be haunted by bloody bodies and gunfire.

He sometimes still saw Tina around, though they never spoke.

The one thing he learned from that terrible experience was that he would never take his life for granted again. Ever.

**A/N: So that is my first fan fic for Cold Case. I should have one more chapter up, i'm not sure when yet but I'll try and post it as soon as possible. Thanks to David for helping me write this.**


	2. Watching

Years later Kyle was still living in the same town. He had just finished his third year of college and had two more to go. A skateboarding related injury caused him to put his school work on hold for too long and he was forced to repeat his senior year.

Kyle was training in a electronic course, he hoped to become a computer programmer in the future. His parents still lived in the same house and he only lived half a mile away.

It was early on a Tuesday morning when Kyle awoke.

He forced himself out of bed and took a quick shower combing his hair and putting on a grey shirt with black jeans. He had early classes and couldn't afford to be late. Math wasn't one of his best subjects so he always got to that class way too early.

Grabbing his bookbag and car keys Kyle left his house, locking the door behind him and getting into his toyota. He threw the bookbag aside and started the car before backing out of his driveway.

Sometimes he was still haunted by the memories of the mall shooting. That had been quite a while ago but he remembered almost every detail perfectly.

The way the sun was hidden behind the clouds, just how the whether should have been. The crowds of unexpecting people who were dragged into the massacre. Hell, Kyle even remembered what he was wearing and why he ws at the mall that day.

Those were the things he'd never forget. The town, along with the rest of the country had been in a state of shock for a long time. So many people couldn't and even wouldn't believe somthing so horrible happened somewhere so nice.

Tina was still living around town. Kyle and her had became friends in his freshman year of college and they often kept in touch.

Kyle pulled into the parking lot of a unniversity school. It was a huge brick building surrounced by other buildings. He got out of the car, not bothering to lock the door because of how quite the town was, and started walking to his class.

The campus was nice and tidy. There was the main building in the front of the school, then some dorms behind it but most other buildings were for other classes. Kyle found the advanced litterature class took and went inside the building.

Kyle got to class with five minutes before the bell. Other students were busy talking or reading. Once he sat down, Kyles best friend Alex turned around to talk to him.

Alex was still in college beause he started over one year after graduating high school. Travis had taken a four year college and moved away a long time ago. "Hey dude." he said casually. "Hey." Kyle acknowledged his friend.

Alex was taller than Kyle by about three inches. He had short bleach blond hair, which he usually covered with a hat. He also worked out alot so he was pretty built ad strong.

"So what's up, I didn't get to talk to you yesterday." Alex said. "Oh yeah, I had physical therapy for my leg, I came in late" the summer before he started his senior year, Kyle had a major accident.

Alex and another kid, Wes, were going to film Kyle grind down a set of stairs. But he jumped to late and lost his footing. Kyle broke and fractured almost every bone in his right leg. Sometimes it still hurt.

Wes and Alex had to take him to the hospital, which freaked his parents out because they always worried about his saftey. He hadn't been able to skate well since.

But that was almost four years ago and the doctor told Kyle he could skateboard again. He cringed everytime he remembered how it felt when his bone snapped in half.

Sitting up as the bell rang, Kyle tapped his pencil against his litterature book and Alex turned back around. Their professor came into class and began talking. Kyle tried to listen but for some reason he could not stay focused.

He stopped tapping his pencil and ran a hand through his dark hair. He only had one class, then he had an hour until his math class. So after an hour of learning about Shakespear, the bell rang and Kyle stood up, grabbing his books and shoving them back into his bag. He walked out of class talking to Alex.

"Dude, we have to write that essay before next week, have you started it?" Alex asked, pulling his cap down over his face. "Yeah, I got it done yesterday, what about you?" Kyle answered, walking back out into the sun lit parking lot.

"Nah, I'm starting it tonight." Alex said, pulling out his keys. "Alright dude, see you later." he said. Kyle said goodbye and walked to his car, opening the door. Two people, a man and a woman walked across the lot and stopped in front of Kyle.

He turned around and looked at them. "Hello." he said. "Hey, are you Kyle Phillips?" the man asked, taking out a badge and showing it to Kyle. "Yeah I am." he said, wondering what was going on. "Well i'm detective Valens and this is detective Lilly Rush, we have a few questions to ask you." he said

Kyle nodded and took his bookbag off, throwing it in the backseat of his car. "Sure, what's up?" he asked, shutting the door. "Well can you come to our station so we can talk in private. You're not in any trouble Kyle." Scotty Valens said.

_Interrogation room_

Kyle was sitting quietly in the room, waiting patiently for one of the detectives to come in and question him. He couldn't remember doing anything wrong, or knowing somboy who did somthing wrong. Finally Lilly walked into the office and handed him a water.

"Thanks," Kyle said, opening it and taking a sip. "You're welcome. Now we need to ask you a few things Kyle, it's about an inccident that happened at the mall in 1995." she explained. Kyle looked up suddenly, sort of surprised.

"We just have to ask you some things," she said. "starting with, were you there that day?". Kyle nodded "Yeah, I was going to meet some friends but the shooting happened before I could." he said, thinking back on that day.

"So you were there, were you in the fod court?" she asked. Kyle hesitated "Yeah, I was waiting by some booth." he told her. Lilly nodded and wrote somthing down on a piece of paper she had out. "Okay, did you know the shooters or have any connection with them?"

"Yeah..well we went to school together. I talked to Cameron sometimes. When he was working." Kyle said before taking another drink of water. "So you did know their names and where they worked?" she asked, Kyle nodded, confirming it.

"Okay, now can you think back to that moment, and tell us everything you remember about being there. I know it must have been hard, but please do your best." she said. He nodded and thought back to the day of the shooting.

"I ws just waiting when this guy, I guess he was on the football team, he got shot and then people started screaming and running. I went and hid because I was scared of getting shot." at this point Scott had entered the room and taken a seat.

"I saw some people get shot, I think Cameron had some kind of shotgun and I don't really know what Neil had, " Kyle explained "They were laughing and killing people so I stopped watching and just waited. The next thing I knew it was over and they were just walking around."

"Do you know exactly how long the shooting took place?" Scoty asked. "I don't know, about ten minutes, maybe a few more." Kyle said. "Okay and who shot that jock?" Lilly asked. "Cameron, I think."

"Then I heard more gunshots and stood up, they shot themselves." he finished, trying not to remember _every_ detail of the shooting. He really didn't want to. He just wanted to let it go.

"Okay, now is there anything else you can remember, anything at all that might help us find the third suspect?" Lilly asked him. Kyle hesitated again, should he tell them about Tina? What if he lied and got into trouble?

"..No..nothing, i'm sorry." Kyle said, staring down at the bottle and taking another drink. "Okay, thanks for your time Kyle." detective Valens said standing up and shaking Kyles hand. He did the same with Lilly and they both gave him their cards.

"If you remember anything you think is worth our hearing, give us a call." Scotty said. Kyle read over the numbers "No problem, I will." he said. "Thanks for your help." Valens said, opening the door for Kyle.

_Back at campus_

Kyle was almost five minutes late for class, he was just grateful for not being later. Coming into class he took his seat in the back of the room, going unoticed. Then he pulled out a black notebook and a texbook used for studying.

He couldn't get the conversation he just had out of his head. They must have had a list of people in the mall that day and just got his name or somthing because nobody questioned him before. They said somthing about there being a third supsect but that didn't matter, he already knew who it was.

Maybe he was wrong for not telling them the truth. It wasn't like Tina was the one running around shooting the mall up. She only filmed them for a few minutes. Was that so wrong? Why was she helping them in the first place?

Kyle knew he'd never be able to pay attention now, but he tried to at least listen because it was important. Class ended after another thirty minutes.

_Apartment complex_

Kyle got home after his classes. His apartment wasn't far from campus so he got home quickly. Slinging his bookbag over his shoulder, Kyle shut his car door and locked it before going up the stairs to the second level.

He got up to his room and opened the door with his key. The apartment was quiet, which was starnge, normally he could hear noise coming from other apartments.

But today it was so slient that he could hear the water from his faucet dripping. He shut the door behind him and put his bookbag aside before walking into the kitchen and getting a soda.

Normally after school he had a job at the mall, which was also strange because after the shooting the last thing Kyle wanted was to work there, but it was so close and they were hiring, so he took the job. He worked as a clerk in a sports shop in the second level.

Sitting his soda down on a nearby table, Kyle took out his wallet and opened it, taking the small business cards out. He really thought about calling back and telling them the truth, but how could he?

He saw Tina as a friend, not a threat. She was harmless, she was back then and she was now.

Tina was the only one who understood Kyle. She was there and he knew other people were too. Shaking his head, Kyle sat the cards and his wallet down and walked across the room to the couch where he sat down.

He had work the next morning so after it got late, he went off to bed.

_Early the next morning_

Kyle woke up around seven and got out of bed. he hated being up so early. After taking a quick shower and combing down his hair he got dressed, brushed his teeth, and went down into the kitchen.

Kyle took out some orange juice and drank it from the carton, a bad habit he had since childhood. Since his roomate, Jacob, was never home Kyle knew it didn't matter because nobody else would drink out of it.

Jacob was a year younger than Kyle and out of each month he'd only spend one or two nights at the apartment. The rest of the time he would stay with his girlfriend. Kyle and Jacob were good friends.

Grabbing his car keys and his wallet, Kyle shut the light off and left the apartment. It was a warm morning and the sun was hidden behind some clouds so it wasn't too hot. Kyle loved that kind of weather.

He walked across the lot and opened it car door, getting in and shutting it behind him. He started the car, listening to the familiar sound of his engine rumble, breaking the silence.

He drove to work, not bothering to turn on his radio, and thought. The slight noise of the wind helped him think. He wsn't exactly sure what there was to even think about.

Maybe Tina. He'd always been sort of like a big brother to her and she always seemed like a little sister so he felt like it was his job to protect her, no matter what she did.

He arrived at the mall and parked in an empty parking space in the employee spaces. The mall opened twenty minutes ao so some people were already there getting in or out of cars. Kyle got out of his car and slammed the door shut before going into the mall and up to the sporting goods store.

H walked into the back and grabbed his ID out of a box with his name on it before clocking in. As always there were two other workers there, Justin, who was eighteen and the co manager, and Cheri, who was in her early twenties. She was in Kyles lecture class.

He pinned the ID onto his work shirt and walked out of the back. A group of teenagers were standing near the front looking through the rack of basketballs and in the back two girls in their mid teens were looking for tennis shoes while their mother waited.

The shop was hardly ever crowded and Kyle was surprised they hadn't gone bankrupt yet. He walked to the service desk and looked at Justin, who was on the phone, he looked tired as always and he was drinking from a coffee mug.

"Yes, I understand sir. If you want to return it all I need is the receipt. Yeah, okay. Good luck then." Justin hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes. "I'm getting too old for this job." he said, taking another drink of coffee. Kyle laughed and began sorting through papers.

Cheri walked from the stock room and stopped in front of the desk. She was pretty. Her hair was light blond and she often wore it in a ponytail. Toay she was wearing a light green sweeter, it reminded Kyle of Chelsea. After the shooting her family moved to Ohio.

"What time is it?" she asked. Kyle glanced down at his watch. "8:19" he answered, looking up at her. Justin groaned slightly. "Four more hours..." he said. Kyle lauughed again. "I've got six."

The phone rang again and Justin immediatly picked up up. "J.C sporting goods, how may I help you?" he asked. Kyle left the counter and Cheri folowed him. "How long until your shift is over?" he asked, walking to a sherlf where a closed box layed.

"Three I think." she answered as Kyle took out an orange box cutter and opened the box, reveling sports wear. He and Cheri started stocking the shelf. "Hey, can I ask you somthing that happened a few years ago?" he asked.

"Sure, what's up?" she asked, putting several red shirts on the bottom shelf and straightening them. "Do you remember a shooting that happened here around 1995?" Kyle asked.

She sat up, thinking. "Yeah it was the first year my family moved here. I was fifteen." she explained "My brother Tyler just turned fourteen. I remember us being bored that day and then we decided to come here."

Kyle nodded, looking up at her. "Just before we left my mother stopped us and said there was a shooting so we never came..but I did the day after it reopened." she finished, putting the shirts she had aside. "That's all I really remember, besides what they said on the news."

"What about you," she asked after moment. "Why do you ask?" Kyle put the last stack of shirts on a shelf and shrugged. "Just wondering, that's all." he said, picking up the box and setting it aside.

A few minutes later Kyle walked to the front desk. Justin was filling out some forms. "I'm going to get coffee for me and Cheri, want anything?" he asked. "Would you get me a cup?" Justin asked.

"Sure, no problem, i'll be right back." Kyle said. He walked out of the store, noting that only a few kids were looking through the rack of baseballs, and went to the food court. He stopped in line and looked around.

Sometimes he could remember the shooting like it was yesterday but other times he could hardly remember what happened.

_Apartment complex, room 212_

Kyle unlocked the door and let himself in. He set his bookbag aside and shut the door. Throwing his keys on the table Kyle went into the living room and sat on the small couch. He got off work about fourty five minutes ago but stopped by his parents house.

Now that he was home, Kyle was worn out. He leaned back aaginst the cushion and flipped on the television. He wasn't sure what caught his attention but the fact that they were showing the mall made him sit up.

At the bottom of the screen in bold letters it showed the words _**MALL STANDOFF**_

Kyle dropped the remote on the couch next to him and stared at the t.v, running a hand through his hair. A man in his mid thrities was standing behind the mall holding a microphone. "Now the details haven't been released but there are reports of sombody with a gun inside the mall."

**A/N: Okay so this will take one more chapter, but I should have it posted before the end of the week.**


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